Eight years on from the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy, the UK Government has published its response to the final report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. The Government has accepted all 58 recommendations and outlined a structured three-phase plan to deliver on them.
Phase One (2025 to 2026)
The initial phase will focus on the delivery of existing reforms, recommendations, and consultations. This includes:
- Advancing building safety through the Building Safety Act and the Building Safety Regulator.
- Fixing the remaining buildings with unsafe cladding through the Remediation Acceleration Plan.
- Reviewing responses to the construction products green paper, aiming to improve product conformity, testing, and competence in the sector.
- Concluding the resilience review and issuing a strategic statement responding to similar recommendations on resilience and emergency response across multiple inquiries.
- Introducing regulations for social housing reforms, including Awaab’s Law, electrical safety standards, and social housing staff competence.
- Publishing findings from multiple ongoing reviews, with proposed changes subject to consultation. This includes a review of the building control regime and the approved statutory guidance documents.
- Further consultation on certain recommendations, such as the formation of a single construction regulator and the College of Fire and Rescue.
Phase Two (2026 to 2028)
This phase will maintain the momentum by focusing on fully developed proposals for delivering the recommendations and wider reform. Planned actions include:
- Developing legislation to implement reforms reviewed and consulted on during phase one.
- Creating legislation to uplift competency standards for fire safety-critical professions.
- Continuing to review Approved Document B and the definition of higher-risk buildings, in response to evolving building types.
- Rolling out a social housing reform programme, focusing on decency and energy efficiency standards, with expansion to the private sector.
Phase Three (2028 onwards)
The final phase will focus on implementing reforms using the legislation and regulatory powers established earlier. This includes ensuring that professionals are properly qualified and competent. The new system will be monitored and evaluated for its effectiveness in improving residents’ safety and wellbeing.
